For those of you who dont know, "Flags of our Fathers" is perhaps the greatest combat book I have ever read. It was written by James Bradley, the sone of the Navy corpsmen whos profile is immortilized in the famous photo and statue of the 2nd flag raising on the 3rd day of battle on Iwo Jima. It truly is an intense and moving novel. From the excellent biographies of the six flag raisers and the hard depression era in which they grew up, to the hard nosed training and combat through the pacific and ultimately Iwo where 3 of the six lost their lives during the hellish battle. The book starts out as Bradley is routing through his fathers stuff upon his death and discovers a Navy Cross and citation. He never knew, he knew his father was one of the men in the famous photo and grew up being told that "your father is a hero" but as he recounts, his father would get as close to him as he ever would and say" the real heros are the men who are still on Iwo" and leave it at that. His father never spoke of the war. So, upon his death he sought out survivors for their stories and pieced together a most amazing book.
As the movie is a Steven Speilberg (directed by clint eastwood) project, I wonder if when the Marines hit the beach how the audience will remember "saving private Ryan" only this time the Japanese defenders allow several initial waves to land. Then of course after about an hour and marines are gathering on the beach, the 36 day ordeal begins in a ****storm. The book recounts that arial recon planes said the japanese were so well entrenched that from the air, it "it looks like the Marines are fighting the island itself" and of course the famouse words of then combat correspondant Jim Leher (now a famous new broadcaster) he says based on his pacific theater coverage "in combat, the army is chicken****, the navy is no better, and the airforce is barely on our side" this is after several cagmpains with the Marines as they slugged it out against the fanatical fighters that the Japanese were.
If you have a chance give, the book a read, I promise you'll be glad you did. Its also of course for me, a sort of "finally" a movie about ww2 and the tremendous and now legendary battles that the Marines fought in the pacific.
Heres the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/combined
Yeah I know...ooohrah Marine Corps. I get a little over zealous.
Heres a good link that lets you read the first chapter of the book: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553111330&view=excerpt
The flag raisers :http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingc.htm
As the movie is a Steven Speilberg (directed by clint eastwood) project, I wonder if when the Marines hit the beach how the audience will remember "saving private Ryan" only this time the Japanese defenders allow several initial waves to land. Then of course after about an hour and marines are gathering on the beach, the 36 day ordeal begins in a ****storm. The book recounts that arial recon planes said the japanese were so well entrenched that from the air, it "it looks like the Marines are fighting the island itself" and of course the famouse words of then combat correspondant Jim Leher (now a famous new broadcaster) he says based on his pacific theater coverage "in combat, the army is chicken****, the navy is no better, and the airforce is barely on our side" this is after several cagmpains with the Marines as they slugged it out against the fanatical fighters that the Japanese were.
If you have a chance give, the book a read, I promise you'll be glad you did. Its also of course for me, a sort of "finally" a movie about ww2 and the tremendous and now legendary battles that the Marines fought in the pacific.
Heres the link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0418689/combined
Yeah I know...ooohrah Marine Corps. I get a little over zealous.
Heres a good link that lets you read the first chapter of the book: http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553111330&view=excerpt
The flag raisers :http://www.iwojima.com/raising/raisingc.htm
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